Maine Lighthouses

March 30, 2008

If you're heading up the Maine coast this spring looking for scenic overlooks, be sure to hunt down Nubble Light (also called Cape Neddick Light) near York, Maine. This is easily the most accessible (and most-photographed) light in Maine--there is a parking lot right in front of the light, so you can almost do a drive-by shooting. Actually the light sits on a small island, but the tidal canal in front of the island can be used nicely in compositions. The side of the lighthouse facing the parking lot (there is a lot of room for you to set up a tripod and lawn chairs and have a picnic while you wait for the best light) is facing almost due west, so the best time to shoot is late in the day. In the shot here the setting sun was casting a beautiful golden glow on the scene and illuminating the lighthouse radiantly.

Meter the building carefully and use exposure compensation if you think it's necessary; that white paint will fool your meter into thinking there is more light than there really is and the lighthouse will underexpose (one trick: meter the blue sky and use your exposure-lock feature to hold that reading). (Visit my main site for more exposure tips.) Also, keep the lines of the house parallel to the sides of your frame because the island and house have a pretty good lean going on. I use the tower of the lighthouse itself as a guide and turn on the guide lines in my Nikon D70s viewfinder. A great place to visit, just be patient looking for the tiny local road that leads to the parking lot.